Road Ambush, Adept (Patreon)

This week I made the Road Ambush (30x30), one of those maps that is always nice to have on hand for quick encounters on the road, but probably won't inspire any crazy stories. I'm pretty sure every mapmaker out there has made this one before too, so it felt like a good time to whip out my own version. 

Your alternate version of this map is one I'm calling 'Flurry', a cool-colored variant of the night version that features a frostier palette as well as some snow effects. Think of it as one of those chilly nights where the snow has been falling for a half hour or so, but none of it is sticking or piling up yet- that's what I was trying to imitate. 

1. Like I said, this map has been made by every mapmaker out there- a winding road through the forest with a choke point for ambushers to lay their trap. I was originally planning on making this one to fit the first fight in Lost Mine of Phandelver perfectly, featuring 2 dead horses on the road instead of fallen tree trunks, but I decided that it was too narrow a design and too obviously that first iconic encounter. 

Instead I went with my personal favorite version of the forest ambush, with logs placed across the road to block wagons from passing while offering cover between the rocky ledges. I like how this version offers more terrain to the center of the fight rather than the horses, which one of my players (the wizard precon) actually did try to use as cover for their first fight. 

2. If you check out the original sketch, you can see some small ponds placed in a couple locations in the grass- I think I liked the thought of those being places for goblins to hide submerged when players attempted to skirt around the ambush coming from either direction, but that struck me as a pretty silly setup that players would never anticipate. Instead, I decided to leave the areas mostly open, freeing up some secondary locations for the heart of the battle to take place.

3. I've once again tried to take a fresh approach to my forest palette and lighting. This time, I decided to imitate my Roadside Watchtower map, which I'm starting to think is my personal favorite forest map. So, I brought over the lighting and effects and adjusted them to fit on this map, smoothing over any effects I had layered over that map's central river. On top of that, I've tweaked the colors a fair amount as well, darkening the grass and trees pretty heavily in an attempt to prevent everything from looking washed out. 

Overall, I think I could have lightened it up some more and perhaps cut down the vignette another few percent. Some of the shadows are a little too dark for my taste, especially near the edges of the image, though the center looks very nice, just about ideal I think. I don't think I'll be making another forest map for a while, but I'll remember to use this map as my jumping-off point when I do.